Pension companies were criticised by the City watchdog again this week for shoddy practices around the sale of the annuities that many people still buy with their retirement pots to deliver a regular income for life. They aren’t adequately highlighting the benefits of shopping around for the best

Jean Ghika joined Bonhams, the auction house, as a porter in 1992, straight after studying history of art at Manchester University. She quickly decided to specialise in jewellery and is now director of the company’s jewellery department in Europe. Besides overseeing multimillion-pound sales across

A depressing number of large and medium-sized breweries across the UK have closed since the millennium and it’s not difficult to see why. Pubs are shutting every week, people are drinking more imported lager, and the bigger British brewers are consolidating into large multi-brand companies. The

Mark Edmonds was pleasantly surprised by the chancellor’s measures and says that the reform of stamp duty, which will cut the tax payable on most house purchases, could enable his family to buy their first home. The 42-year-old adviser in a camera rental business earns an “average” salary. He and

Some startling museum quality art is coming up for auction in this year’s pre-Christmas sales, including one of the few Turner masterpieces in private hands, paintings of Pre-Raphaelite beauties and an iconic Marilyn screenprint by Andy Warhol. The star lots will fetch millions of pounds but there

Paddington in northwest central London is best-known for its station by Brunel and the marmalade-loving bear who takes its name. This weekend it will be busy with families following the trail of 50 Paddington statues laid out to mark today’s release of Paddington, the film. The bears will entertain

One of the best pieces of domestic design in north London is tucked away behind an archway on Pond Street in Hampstead. It isn’t listed and isn’t on the Open House circuit, but it’s architecturally significant and has the same wow factor as the better-known houses in NW3 by the likes of Wells

The Old Rectory at Willersey, near Broadway, in the Cotswolds, is a primarily Georgian house in a part of the country that doesn’t do Georgian, according to David Froggatt, of Jackson-Stops & Staff, the estate agent, which is selling the property for £2 million. Froggatt explains: “We do 17th

Inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) edged up from 1.2 per cent to 1.3 per cent last month, making it that bit harder to make a real return on your savings. Basic rate taxpayers need a taxed savings account paying 1.63 per cent to beat the eroding effects of tax and inflation

The latest official house price statistics make dismal reading for anyone who’s struggling to buy. The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), based on mortgage completions, indicate that prices rose by 12.1 per cent to an average of £273,000 in the year to the end of September; the